Wherefore, every man, who buys a ticket, must lay his account withlosing the purchase-money- which is the value of his own soul.""Poh, nonsense!" said Mr. Smooth-it-away, taking my arm and leadingme off, "these fellows ought to be indicted for a libel. If the lawstood as it once did in Vanity Fair, we should see them grinningthrough the iron bars of the prison window."This incident made a considerable impression on my mind, andcontributed with other circumstances to indispose me to a permanentresidence in the city of Vanity; although, of course, I was not simpleenough to give up my original plan of gliding along easily andcommodiously by railroad. Still, I grew anxious to be gone. Therewas one strange thing that troubled me; amid the occupations oramusements of the Fair, nothing was more common than for a person-whether at a feast, theatre, or church, or trafficking for wealthand honors, or whatever he might be doing, and however unseasonablethe interruption- suddenly to vanish like a soap-bubble, and benever more seen of his fellows; and so accustomed were the latter tosuch little accidents, that they went on with their business, asquietly as if nothing had happened. But it was otherwise with me.
Finally, after a pretty long residence at the Fair, I resumed myjourney towards the Celestial City, still with Mr. Smooth-it-away atmy side. At a short distance beyond the suburbs of Vanity, we passedthe ancient silver mine, of which Demas was the first discoverer,and which is now wrought to great advantage, supplying nearly allthe coined currency of the world. A little further onward was the spotwhere Lot's wife had stood for ages, under the semblance of a pillarof salt. Curious travellers have long since carried it away piecemeal.
Had all regrets been punished as rigorously as this poor dame'swere, my yearning for the relinquished delights of Vanity Fair mighthave produced a similar change in my own corporeal substance, and leftme a warning to future pilgrims.
The next remarkable object was a large edifice, constructed ofmoss-grown stone, but in a modern and airy style of architecture.
The engine came to a pause in its vicinity with the usual tremendousshriek.
"This was formerly the castle of the redoubted giant Despair,"observed Mr. Smooth-it-away; "but, since his death, Mr. Flimsy-faithhas repaired it, and now keeps an excellent house of entertainmenthere. It is one of our stopping-places.""It seems but slightly put together," remarked I, looking at thefrail, yet ponderous walls. "I do not envy Mr. Flimsy-faith hishabitation. Some day it will thunder down upon the heads of theoccupants.""We shall escape, at all events," said Mr. Smooth-it-away, "forApollyon is putting on the steam again."The road now plunged into a gorge of the Delectable Mountains,and traversed the field where, in former ages, the blind menwandered and stumbled among the tombs. One of these ancienttomb-stones had been thrust across the track, by some maliciousperson, and gave the train of cars a terrible jolt. Far up therugged side of a mountain, I perceived a rusty iron door, halfovergrown with bushes and creeping plants, but with smoke issuing fromits crevices.
"Is that," inquired I, "the very door in the hill-side, which theshepherds assured Christian was a by-way to Hell?""That was a joke on the part of the shepherds," said Mr.
Smooth-it-away, with a smile. "It is neither more nor less than thedoor of a cavern, which they use as a smoke-house for thepreparation of mutton hams."My recollections of the journey are now, for a little space, dimand confused, inasmuch as a singular drowsiness here overcame me,owing to the fact that we were passing over the Enchanted Ground,the air of which encourages a disposition to sleep. I awoke,however, as soon as we crossed the borders of the pleasant land ofBeulah. All the passengers were rubbing their eyes, comparing watches,and con-gratulating one another on the prospect of arriving soseasonably at the journey's end. The sweet breezes of this happy climecame refreshingly to our nostrils; we beheld the glimmering gush ofsilver fountains, overhung by trees of beautiful foliage and deliciousfruit, which were propagated by grafts from the celestial gardens.
Once, as we dashed onward like a hurricane, there was a flutter ofwings, and the bright appearance of an angel in the air, speedingforth on some heavenly mission. The engine now announced the closevicinity of the final Station-house, by one last and horriblescream, in which there seemed to be distinguishable every kind ofwailing and wo, and bitter fierceness of wrath, all mixed up withthe wild laughter of a devil or a madman. Throughout our journey, atevery stopping-place, Apollyon had exercised his ingenuity in screwingthe most abominable sounds out of the whistle of the steam-engine; butin this closing effort he outdid himself, and created an infernaluproar, which, besides disturbing the peaceful inhabitants ofBeulah, must have sent its discord even through the celestial gates.
While the horrid clamor was still ringing in our ears, we heardan exulting strain, as if a thousand instruments of music, withheight, and depth, and sweetness in their tones, at once tender andtriumphant, were struck in unison, to greet the approach of someillustrious hero, who had fought the good fight and won a gloriousvictory, and was come to lay aside his battered arms for ever. Lookingto ascertain what might be the occasion of this glad harmony, Iperceived, on alighting from the cars, that a multitude of shiningones had assembled on the other side of the river, to welcome two poorpilgrims, who were just emerging from its depths. They were the samewhom Apollyon and ourselves had persecuted with taunts and gibes,and scalding steam, at the commencement of our journey- the same whoseunworldly aspect and impressive words had stirred my conscience,amid the wild revellers of Vanity Fair.
